INDYCAR Power Rankings: Josef Newgarden Big Mover After Gateway Win

Josef Newgarden made a big jump in the power rankings after his victory Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway. The win at the 1.25-mile oval, commonly known as Gateway, is Newgarden’s house. He’s won six times at the track. Here are my power rankings with INDYCAR headed into an off weekend before a June 21 race at Road America. Dropped out: Scott Dixon (Last Week: 10) On the verge: Marcus Armstrong, Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson 10. Rinus VeeKay (Last Week: 10)Juncos Hollinger No. 76 Chevrolet VeeKay has been impressive lately with a season-best fourth-place finish at Gateway. That gave him a sixth and a fourth among his finishes in the last three races. He is 13th in the standings. 9. Graham Rahal (Last Week: 8)Rahal Letterman Lanigan No. 15 Honda Rahal had a disappointing Gateway, as he appeared to get in some marbles and the car snapped on him. Still, he has three podium finishes in the last six races. 8. Felix Rosenqvist (Last Week: 5)Meyer Shank Racing No. 60 Honda Rosenqvist started fourth but finished 14th at Gateway. That could very well be just a hiccup, since he also has finishes of second, first and sixth in the last five races. And, of course, that win was the Indianapolis 500. 7. Christian Lundgaard (Last Week: 4)Arrow McLaren No. 7 Chevrolet Lundgaard isn’t known for having incredible prowess on ovals, so a 10th-place finish was decent — especially considering he started 16th. Lundgaard is fourth in the series standings. 6. Pato O’Ward (Last Week: 3)Arrow McLaren No. 5 Chevrolet O’Ward was 11th at Gateway and is fifth in the series standings. He just wasn’t happy with the speed all weekend. He’s not used to being that low. He has six finishes of fourth or fifth this year. He is fifth in the series standings. 5. Scott McLaughlin (Last Week: 7)Team Penske No. 3 Chevrolet McLaughlin was coming on fresh tires over the final 25 laps and he wound up fifth. It was a solid day for McLaughlin as it was his second top-five finish in the last three races. He is seventh in the series standings. 4. David Malukas (Last Week: 6)Team Penske No. 12 Chevrolet Malukas placed seventh at Gateway. It wasn’t what he was looking for considering he started on the front row. But it was a decent rebound after a frustrating Detroit. He is third in the series standings. 3. Josef Newgarden (Last Week: 9)Team Penske No. 2 Chevrolet Newgarden was the big winner at Gateway, after leading 53 laps and having enough to hold off Marcus Ericsson. There is something to be said about winning a race when you’re actually one of the favorites, as was the case with Newgarden. His history at Gateway includes five wins, and he won the most recent race on a short oval at Phoenix. He’s sixth in the series standings. 2. Kyle Kirkwood (Last Week: 2)Andretti Global No. 27 Honda Kirkwood placed sixth at Gateway, where he won a year ago. He started third but was never really a factor. But the fact is that the sixth was only the third race this year when he didn’t finish in the top five. He sits second in the standings. 1. Alex Palou (Last Week: 1)Chip Ganassi Racing No. 10 Honda Palou had a disaster when he ran out of fuel entering pit road after the final rain delay. He ended up 17th. This was a rare “L” for this team when it comes to strategy. With four wins in nine races this year, he still leads the series standings.